


Bitten

by lucidscreamer



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hazards of Georgia in the summer, Humor, Missing Scene, POV Female Character, Season/Series 01, Slice of Life, The Quarry Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-30 00:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19030630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/pseuds/lucidscreamer
Summary: Inattention has consquences. [Lori gets bitten at the Quarry Camp.]





	Bitten

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Walking Dead is the creation of Robert Kirkland. 
> 
> Notes: Because TWD is set in the South, but we never really see any of the everyday hazards Southerners have to deal with. And no one is going to care about this but me, but it has always irritated me that the show basically ignores its own setting.
> 
> This is set right before the supply run where Glen and Rick meet in Atlanta.

Weary with an exhaustion more mental than physical, Lori sat down on a patch of scrubby brown grass that had crisped dry in the blistering summer heat. Amost immediately, she leaped back up, swatting frantically at her legs and rear, and cursing under her breath as she hopped away from the patch of deceptively innocent looking dirt.

"You okay?" Jacqui sounded as if she wasn't sure whether to be concerned or amused.

Lori ignored her and kept sweeping her hands over her clothes, trying to get the swarming ants off her. A second later, the other woman had come close enough to see what the problem was. "Oh, lord, _fire ants_. Honey, you'd be best off taking those pants off and ducking yourself in the quarry."

"Great." Lori didn't take off her capris, but she did make a mad dash for the road leading down into the flooded quarry. By the time she reached the water, she was wishing she'd listened to Jacqui. She could feel the burning of at least a dozen bites on her skin. Sure enough, when she shucked out of her capris and boots, and stumbled into the water, her ankles and calves were dotted with bites already turning into painful red welts.

When she was certain she'd washed all the ants off her body, Lori stared at her capris floating in the water. She scowled at them, wondering how to make sure all the little devils were dead -- or at least out of her clothing. Finally, she just left the pants where she'd thrown them. No way she was putting them back on if those damn ants were still in there. She was just beginning to wish she had something to change into when she heard footsteps crunching on the gravel behind her.

With an uncertain smile, Carol held out a pair of jeans. "Jacqui said you might want these."

"...Thanks."

Carol handed her the jeans and didn't stick around to watch her dress.

After Lori had struggled into the jeans, her wet skin catching on the denim, she shoved her feet into her boots and trudged back up to the campsite, every squelching step a reminder why it paid to look before you sat, especially in the hot months when the ants were most active. Already the burning pain and corresponding itching was enough to make her want to claw at her lower legs. She just hoped the first aid kit Dale had in the RV had some anti-itch cream for the bites, and maybe some Benedryl. Otherwise, she knew from past experience that she was in for a miserable night. Fire ants, just another reason Lori had never been a fan of 'the great outdoors.'

She sighed. If all other options failed, maybe she could convince Glenn to go on another supply run into the city...

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you've never encountered fire-ants (a) lucky you, and (b) those suckers HURT when they bite. I can't even walk across my yard without the sneaky little devils biting me and they are EVERYWHERE when the weather is hot and dry, so you're not safe even if you avoid the visible ant beds.


End file.
